The 2nd Level of Babel was a Field Area. Grassy meadows stretched before our eyes, and small trees covered in dark green leaves dotted the area without blocking the view.
“It looks like the 1st Level here,” Sumire observed.
“Don’t let your guard down, Sumire,” I said. “The 2nd Level’s where monsters start appearing.”
“Right! Got it!” she replied, her voice tense.
Granted, the only monsters that showed up around here were low on the danger scale. Even if they managed to bite people, they could only inflict minor injuries.
“Sumire, stay close to me. My Barrier Magic and Healing Magic only extend a few steps away from me.”
“Okay! I’ll make sure to stay inside that range.”
This was something I’d made a point of repeating over the past week: The range of my magic was extremely short, which was part of the reason I couldn’t find a party that would let me in. I also couldn’t heal multiple people at once, so I wasn’t exactly the best Healer around. Thanks to these limitations, I’d almost never moved around or explored in a group. My partnership with Sara had been the only time I’d worked with another person.
“O-Okay, come at me!”
Sumire held up the shield we’d purchased at the academy’s equipment store and looked around, never relaxing her posture. Watching her put a smile on my face.
However, a problem soon arose: No matter how long we waited, no monsters jumped out to attack us.
“Eugene, where are the monsters?” she asked.
“That’s odd...”
We wandered around the 2nd Level for a bit, but we saw neither hide nor hair of any monsters. At one point, we caught a glimpse of a Jackalope. But the moment it saw us, it jumped and ran away, disappearing in a blink of an eye. It was only when I shot Sumire a glance that I recalled something: Sumire was an Ifrit.
An incredible amount of mana was pouring from her body. Though she now had enough control over it that she was no longer spontaneously generating flames as she had when we first met, that didn’t change the fact that she stored a monstrous amount of it in her body. I’d become accustomed to seeing and taking care of dangerous creatures during my time at the Biology Club, and so I’d forgotten that normal monsters viewed an Ifrit’s mana as a threat. All of them were fleeing the second they laid eyes on Sumire.
This isn’t going to help her gain experience. I said, “Sumire, let’s use the Dungeon Elevator and go to the 5th Level instead.”
“Huh? Right off the bat? Will I be okay?”
“It looks like the monsters on this floor are staying in today.” As we headed for the upper floors, I refrained from telling her that she was scaring them off.
♢ 5th Level, Babel ♢
Just as on the 2nd Level, the scenery here was that of a Field Area. Seven days ago, Sumire had transformed this place into a hellish inferno, but it had returned to its usual grassy greens thanks to both the dungeon staff’s firefighting efforts and Babel’s self-reconstruction mechanism.
“There aren’t any monsters here either!” Sumire said.
I didn’t say anything in response. Actually, there are monsters here. I can sense them. I could feel their gazes on us as they observed from a distance. Apparently, the monsters on the 5th Level remembered Sumire, as she had been the one to burn up their home. They were even more scared of her than the monsters on the 2nd Level.
I didn’t think her mana would be this intimidating. Do we really have no choice but to move on to the upper levels? Making it to the 6th Level on one’s first exploration would be a pretty unfathomable record. Normally, it was inadvisable to go through the dungeon at such a rapid pace. Back when I was actively dungeon exploring, it had taken me days to clear each floor.
“Reincarnators from other worlds are special, Eugene. You shouldn’t apply our world’s rules or common sense to them,” Headmaster Uther had once told me, stroking his beard.
I see what he means now. As usual, the headmaster was right.
After we made our way to the 6th Level, some monsters started to brave Sumire’s presence and come out of hiding. The one now standing before us was a Gray Wolf, a monster with a danger ranking of two.
“A-A monster! Eugene!” Sumire exclaimed, clear panic in her voice.
“Calm down, Sumire. I’ll be right next to you, ready to support you.”
I held up my sword so I could jump in to protect Sumire the moment she needed it. However, I wouldn’t be the one doing the fighting. Sumire would. I wanted her to start by calmly observing the monster’s movements. Gray Wolves were fairly dangerous creatures, but even a novice explorer could deal with them if they knew what to look out for.
“All right. Come at me!” she yelled, trying to pump herself up.
I hadn’t given her any weapons, only the shield for her protection. This was so she could focus on defending herself first.
As if in response to Sumire’s war cry, her body began to emit more mana. So her emotions are doing that? Her mana was awesome enough on an ordinary day, but the mana of an Ifrit raring for battle was unbelievable. An incredible amount, rivaling that of ten super high-tier mages, cloaked Sumire’s body.
This is the power of the legendary Ifrit? The red mana emanating from Sumire’s body burned the grass with an audible sizzle. Spreading like fire, it traveled along the ground until it reached the Gray Wolf. With a pathetic whine, the monster turned tail and ran away. I’m guessing the heat burned its paws.